


Triad Trials

by Misty Shadowbrook (Dagger_Stiletto)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Demisexual Harry Potter, Established Relationship, Fluff, Lucius Is A Bastard, M/M, No Sex, Polyamory, Threesome - M/M/M, Triad relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 21:47:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5471837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dagger_Stiletto/pseuds/Misty%20Shadowbrook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco can feel their happy world starting to crumble, but he and Severus are determined to keep their love afloat, no matter what it is that's trying to destroy them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Triad Trials

**Author's Note:**

> I'm suffering from some writer's block in regards to Fire-Touched Feathers, so here's a oneshot that I hope will kickstart me into the rest of the next chapter.  
> Unbetaed and composed on my phone, so I know there will be mistakes.

_Draco didn't know what to do_ to disperse the sudden tension between the three of them and get back to the easy, comfortable safety of their relationship.That they loved each other, there was no question. He realized that was what made this so hard. Whatever it was that had caused this unapproachable rift between them was tearing a hole into his heart.

  
He wasn't the only one to feel the effects. Severus had these pinched lines around the corners of his mouth. Harry had this unusual emotional chill glazing his usually expressive green eyes, as if he felt the need to hide the extent of his true feelings.

  
As much as he hated to admit it, Draco felt that it was he and Severus against Harry. Or no... It was more like he and Severus stood on one side of a great chasm, and Harry had somehow gotten separated and now stood on the opposite side. It was terrifying, especially since the triad had started out as a monogamous relationship between Harry and Severus, and they had opened their arms, hearts, and bed to Draco after a few months of solid commitment.

  
Harry had always joked that if he and Severus could set aside their differences and heal the wounds of their past enough to love each other, then he and Draco sure as hell could, too.  
It was odd and terrifying to feel like he and Severus were the ones opposite Harry despite their beginnings.

  
Terrifying, because of so many things. Two Slytherins against the only Gryffindor. The Potions Masters against the wand maker. Two very sexually active men combined while their demisexual lover sat on the sidelines.

  
And to an outsider's perspective, it could also look like Draco was pushing Harry out after infiltrating the pre-existing relationship.

  
He could just see the headlines now.

  
All that aside, he wasn't sure how to broach the subject, or how he or Severus could attempt to mend whatever had started to tatter. They all loved each other. They couldn't imagine life without the other two around. How do you fix something when you don't know which part is broken?

They had been happy only weeks ago. Closing in on a year as a triad, all three sported engagement bands. Harry wore his on his finger proudly while the Potions Masters usually wore theirs on a chain around their necks while brewing so no harm befell the special rings.

And then Harry came home, and an air of ice swirled around him like a new cloak. Draco had at first thought something had happened while he was at work, or maybe while he had been having lunch with one of his friends. They inquired of the several people who might know if anything happened, but no such luck. Aside from a noticeable chill to his demeanor, Harry still acted mostly normal while not at home.

A twang of pain made itself known in his chest at this knowledge.

"I just don't understand," he murmured as he and Severus brewed beside each other one evening. "I keep turning it over and over in my head, trying to remember if we said or did something, or perhaps we forgot something important." He readily handed over the mortar filled with the leaves he'd been tasked to powder. "I can't think of anything. Harry is so sensitive to things we can callously think are an important, but I thought you and I had more or less perfected handling those situations."

"It is hard to tell what has offended Potter's delicate sensibilities," the older wizard replied in a low voice. Draco resisted correcting him; Severus always regressed to Harry's surname when upset or particularly distracted and/or focussed on something. He was more careful in Harry's presence but didn't bother When it was just he and Draco.

Draco resisted the urge to sigh. Sometimes Severus could sound so prickly and disapproving when he referred to Harry like that. In the beginning, Harry had reacted badly to the way Severus sometimes behaved, which was reminiscent of how he'd treated the Gryffindor in Hogwarts so many years ago. It had taken a while for the Chosen One to numb himself to the deceptively harsh manner, although Draco occasionally still glimpsed a flash of sadness, anger, or discomfort flash across Harry's face before he schooled it back to impassiveness.

"Can't you feel it, Severus?" Draco asked quietly, looking at the taller man earnestly. "Can't you feel how distant he's gone from us? It's like if I try to touch him with my hand, he is so far beyond my reach, and he only gets farther away as time passes." His hands clenched on air. "I cannot bear to see him drift any further from us. I love you both equally, and it's like my heart is being pulled in two different directions."

Severus sighed harshly through his nose. He cast a stasis spell over the potion, the name of which Draco had forgotten, or neglected to remember, as he allowed himself to be distracted. "Of course I have noticed," the man replied in a grave, somber voice, and now that he isn't immersed in the brew, Draco could see the level of emotional discontent the situation was causing him. Honestly, it had to be even more worrisome for him considering how much longer he and Harry had been involved. "Of course I have noticed him shrug off my touch as if it physically pained him to be near us. He has had times where he abhorred tactile sensation, so I thought that was what was wrong this time. In the past, those spells only lasted a day. This has gone on... longer than expected."

"There has to be something we are missing," Draco muttered, dragging a frustrated hand through his hair, a habit he had picked up from Harry and one his parents detested.

He paused. He pulled his hand down from his hair and stared hard at his palm. Then he turned it over to study the indentation in his middle finger that never went away due to the minor flaw in the signet ring bearing his family crest. It had been his father's father's ring, and despite Lucius' urging to get it repaired, Draco left it the way it was as a silent way to honor his grandfather.

"You have thought of something," his older lover observed, watching him, eyes keen and expression wary.

"Harry's been acting strange for the past three weeks or so, right?"Draco said in way of reply, which he knew annoyed Severus, but he couldn't be bothered to care right now.

"About that, yes."

"And about how long ago did we last visit my parents?"

Severus paused, thinking back on it. He scowled. "No less than three-and-a-half weeks."

"Did we, at any point, leave Harry alone with either of my parents?" Draco looked up from his hand to meet Severus' piercing black gaze.

The silence said everything. Severus' jaw flexed with anger and apprehension, eyes fierce with protectiveness. "I will make your father suffer if he has harmed Harry in any way. He has no say our triad and should have given up convincing us of the disastrous consequences in which he believes our relationship will result."

Draco wholeheartedly agreed, fingers clenching into fists at the thought of his father spitting venom into Harry's ear, tearing him down so skillfully that the Muggle-raised wizard wouldn't catch it until the damage had already been done. Harry was impressionable at the best of times, and he had a tendency to believe lies if they were phrased in just the right way. After the war, once the Dark Lord had been vanquished and eradicated from existence, Harry's mind beacame "open", more vulnerable. He'd been taken to Healers, who theorized that the combination of dying and having a parasite such as the Horcrux that had been with him for 16 of his 17 years of life had left an empty space that couldn't be filled, like a chunk of his skull had been removed.

They had done what they could to reduce the severity of the hole, and Severus had assisted further with building walls inside Harry's mind using a combined method of Legilimency and Occlumency. In the end, however, Harry was still susceptible to deception and prey to others' emotions. He luckily still held a firm grasp of common sense, which cut down on the need to be under constant supervision significantly. He was often overwhelmed, especially when in crowds with overflowing emotions pouring out everywhere, and if not for his lovers' protectiveness and natural distrust of others, the Boy-Who-Lived would most likely be tricked and made to believe the worst things imaginable.

It stood to reason, under the right circumstances and at the behest of a skilled manipulator such as Lucius Malfoy, that Harry could have been made to believe something terrible of his lovers, or that the Pureblood patriarch had convinced him that he wasn't good for his son or his oldest friend. Draco wouldn't put it past his father to try to get rid of his son's gay lovers so he could secure him a female wife, or to emotionally destroy Harry Potter, if not physically incapacitate him.

"We cannot let Harry slip away from us, just because your father has a superiority complex and the brain of a guinea pig in his skull," Severus declared in a voice that had lowered dangerously.

Draco nodded in wholehearted agreement. He picked up the supplies they'd set out, putting away the potion ingredients and cleaning the tools. He focussed on the task, and Severus set about finishing their brewing concoction. Finished, he grabbed new vials and corks, setting them close by to pour the potion inside with ease.

It was while they were storing the potion and filling the soiled cauldron with water to soak that they heard the soft tinkle of the front door's wards announcing a trusted individual's entry into then home. The two Potions Masters finished cleanup swiftly and exited the lab. They find Harry painstakingly removing his fur-topped winter boots and placing them on the tray. Before he could say anything, Draco surged forward and hugged the tired younger male. There was a stillness as Harry tensed, and Severus stepped close so he could join in the impromptu embrace.

Draco buried his face in Harry's neck, inhaling the scent of the type of wood he'd been working with at the wand-crafting shop mixed with his natural summer's rain musk. Severus' arms encircle them both, and his chin rested atop the classic messy mop of hair they both came to love, as unruly as their partner could be when the mood struck him. Harry trembled a bit within their embrace, bright green eyes wide with surprise and a bit of apprehension.

It was calm, peaceful, just standing on either side of him with their arms wrapped around their wayward Gryffindor, who had yet to take his far-lined cloak and work robes off. The longer they stood there, the less tense Harry became. His breathing slowed, bringing to their attention that he'd been breathing quick and on the verge of panic. Draco could feel the thunder of the smaller male's heart thundering against his own. In his soul, Draco could feel the chasm that had been separating them from Harry slowly filling in as it collapsed under their love and warmth. Whatever had happened, whatever Lucius had tried to do or say, strength of their love would vanquish it just as surely as Harry did the Dark Lord. They had fought too hard and too long for happiness to just let go of it now.

Harry's hands grasped at the robes they wore specifically for brewing and tugged them almost fretfully. His eyes closed, and he just melted into them. As if so exhausted that he couldn't bear standing upright for a single moment longer, he slumped and leaned his head against Draco's collarbone.

Casting a wordless feather light charm, Severus scooped Harry bridal style, and he carried their limpet of a fiancé into a nearby sitting room. The blond followed silently after, sitting beside them both on the comfiest couch there was in the room. They cuddled him, easing him through whatever inner turmoil he was experiencing right then. Harry trembled almost uncontrollably, and there was the watery sheen of tears threatening to fall from his precious emerald eyes. Severus focussed on running a hand through messy black hair and rubbing his back. While Harry perched in the older wizard's lap, Draco dragged Harry's legs into his own and began massaging them. Fighting emotional demons with physical expressions of love. Taking comfort while giving comfort.

It could have been hours or more moments. Harry stirred, leaning his head against Severus' shoulder while one of his hands drifted up to play among Severus' somewhat greasy hair. His other hand captured one of Draco's and linked their fingers securely. As if getting out of his "funk" took progressive levels, there was another long interval of minutes before Harry finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, guys," he said softly.

"What happened, Harry?" Draco asked softly, rubbing his thumb gently over their combined knuckles.

He sighed, eyes closing briefly. His lashes fluttered lightly against his cheekbone. The Slytherins patiently waited, more than used to exercising that virtue when it came to dealing with their Gryffindor fiancé.

"Mr. Malfoy said some things... They made me dizzy." His eyes were open again, and he frowned in confusion. ''At first it was just words, and even though what he said made me squirm, I didn't pay attention to it because I know it's not true."

He shifted a little, clearly uncomfortable with remembering, or talking about it, or both. "But then he started showing up at the shop. At first he gave the pretense of buying practice wands to donate to children in the orphanages. I put up with it like a good businessman should, and there really wasn't any real reason to throw him out. Before he left, however, he said the same thing."

"What did he say, Harry?" Draco asked, trying not to sound tense.

"He said, 'Draco and Snape are best suited for each other, Potter. Where exactly is it that you fit in?' And he would come in every day and say the same thing, sometimes in a different language.The more he said it, the dizzier I became. And I guess I just... forgot how I was supposed to act at home." He frowned again. "But I'm not supposed to act when I'm at home, just... be. I act outside but not when I'm with you. But he made me feel like I had to. Whatever he did kind of put me in a daze, made me feel dead inside. And I know that you love me. I know that you would never hurt me, but there's always a fear in the back of my mind, one that I've always had in every relationship, romantic or not." His eyes turned to the both of him, his face twisted in agony. "I'm sorry. I couldn't think straight, and I hurt you in the process, and I'm sorry..."

"You have nothing to sorry about," Draco said fiercely, squeezing the fingers linked in his. "My father is the one at fault. He tried to brainwash you, and it was all the worse because he probably used magic as well. You should have thrown him out of the shop. That was your only fault."

Harry smiled timidly at Draco's immediate and ferocious defense of him. Severus turned the wand-maker's head towards him and bestowed upon his lips the sweetest kiss that Draco had ever seen front him. He imagined that it was one of those kisses pulled from the past, back when his and Harry's relationship had been brand new, when Harry had told him how he liked kisses and gentle touches but terrified that he would never actually want to have sex, and Severus had already told him that he loved him anyway. If he wasn't already a part of this triad, Draco would feel like he was intruding on this immensely intimate moment.

"In Snape-speak, that means he doesn't blame you for anything either," Draco teased once their lips had parted. Severus gave a small, amused smirk, and Harry, blushing, nodded and tucked his head back into Severus' neck.

"We will be setting up new wards on the shop," Severus said seriously. "We may not be able to legally keep Malfoy out, but there is no law against setting wards to keep someone who means harm to you from entering."

''And I will be making a fire-call to my parents and expressing my extreme displeasure with what I now know what has been transpiring and causing us all misery," Draco added. "I'm sure my mother would absolutely _love_ to hear how her husband is totally fucking with her plans for our bonding ceremony." They hadn't set a date, hadn't really started thinking of the ceremony, but Narcissa had several different plans on the back-burners depending on which season they decide to bond in.

Narcissa was also ruthless, and after the war, she did _not_ take kindly to anyone meddling with her only child's life, especially if that person was her husband.

''For now," Draco murmured, gently pushing Harry's legs to the floor so he could stand, "we are going to take a shower, eat, and then cuddle you until there is not a single doubt in your mind that you belong with us and that we will do everything in our power to make and keep you happy." Draco bent to give Harry a kiss of his own, and Severus kissed the blond's cheek as well.

The iciness in his stomach melted as Harry's lips pressed back into Draco, hands curling around the pate column of his neck. Everything would be okay now. Harry still loved them, had never stopped, and they could continue leading happy lives together.

That was all they could ask for.


End file.
